Travis went through major changes in Season 1; it was said that he represented "a sense of stability in Madison's life" (Kirkman), after he was forced to kill his ex-wife in front of Madison the stress on their relationship increased.

Travis, surprisingly after having to kill his ex-wife, argues with Madison and gets her to change her mind. He also leads Liza's burial and, while he doesn't stop Chris losing it, he does try to comfort him. He gives Alicia a job to do, to distract her from the painful fact that they're abandoning some people to die at sea - but then doesn't look after her properly and allows her monitoring of the marine bands to turn into chatting to a stranger and giving him too much information. He does defend Alicia Clark later when Strand tells her off for giving things away - but the problem was of his own making really, and he doesn't own up to that.

Travis pulls Chris from the water and tries to rescue Nick from the capsized yacht, he's decisive when things happen quickly but slow to make up his mind when there's time to discuss.

Travis goes ashore on the island of Catrina with his family, he talks mostly to George Geary and seems to bond with him. George tells him what he knows of the what's been happening on the West coast and inland towards the Rockies. He has listened to a number of radio contacts go quiet and seems to have good idea of the true situation. Travis picks up that George is more than a little intense and discusses that with Madison. The next morning he sees Christopher Manawa, his son, putting down the infected and is very disturbed by it. When Maddy comes to him later and tells him that Melissa Geary has asked them to take the young twins with them she is very doubtful but does go along with it eventually.

He asks George Geary to go with them after Willa Geary turns and attacks her mother but doesn't push the issue when George refuses. They all take Harry Geary back to The Abigail but Travis plays no part in trying to persuade Strand to take on the boy, he leaves it to Madison to slug it out (verbally) with Strand.

Despite showing the strength of character needed to kill his ex-wife Liza Ortiz (at her insistence, and because she's been bitten) he appears to be basically unchanged.

At sea The Abigail approaches a Mexican flotilla that is guarding the border.

Travis is talking with Chris on the rear of the Upper Deck about what happened with Reed (in the episode "Captive]"). Chris asks why everyone is mad at him. Travis says that, according to Madison, Reed wasn’t infected when Chris shot him. Chris is devastated, he'd thought that Madison was on his side. They don't yet realize that everyone is infected, and that all dead bodies turn no matter how they've died, unless the brain is badly damaged.

In The Wheelhouse, Luis prepares to meet with his military contact on the flotilla guarding the Mexican border and pay for their passage. Strand sees military officers approaching in a boat. Concerned that a second officer is coming as well as Luis’ contact, he orders Madison to hide everyone below decks.

From the engine room, Madison’s group, that is everyone aboard except Strand and Luis, listen to the conversation between Strand, Luis and two military officers, Daniel translating for the group. Gunfire erupts after the officers insist on searching the boat to make sure no Infected are aboard.

When the lights go up and the engines start again, Madison’s group charge upstairs. A mortally wounded Luis lies next to two dead officers. The Flotilla start to fire on them, the group take cover and Strand powers The Abigail away.

On land, Strand leads the group inland, they go inland far enough for some members of the group to be asking Strand if it's much further. They find a pile of dead parishioners in front of the church, the bodies are being eaten by a dog. Strand spots Thomas’s truck and calls Thomas’s name, he runs around in panic looking for Thomas and calling out for him. The group fight off a herd of infected parishioners who arrive because of the noise.

Strand drives them to the Abigail family's gated estate where the gate opens automatically as the car approaches. Inside the gate people are calmly working in the vineyard and near the main house, Celia, Luis’ mother, greets them.

Madison confers with Travis about Chris and worries that Chris is sick. Travis defends Chris and angrily wonders why Madison won’t offer the same support to Chris that he always gave Nick. They argue and end up sleeping apart; Madison decides to sleep in Alicia’s room for protection while Travis sleeps with Chris.

That night, while Travis is sleeping, Chris gets up and leaves the room.

Travis limps down a Mexican road with Chris. They find a car in a nearby town. Chris insists on searching for supplies at a restaurant while Travis hotwires the car. At the restaurant, Chris hears voices in a back room and sees the owners recently dead on the floor. He stuffs a can of beans into his backpack then kills off incoming Infected, saving a young man as he emerges from the back. After seeing the men, Chris flees back to the car. Chris tells Travis to "Drive!" The man from the restaurant sees them race off and Travis drives through the night. He lets Chris drive, for the first time, when his injured foot worsens.

As they drive, Travis assures Chris the world will return to normal some day, but Chris is skeptical. When they run out of fuel, Travis and Chris start a campfire near the road. While the beans cook, Travis suggests they find a house with a well, in an elevated location that would offer a good vantage point. A truck parks on the road: It’s the young men from the restaurant. Travis and Chris stamp out the fire and hide a little way off. Chris tells Travis that he stole food from the men at the restaurant. The men find their campsite and shout promises not to hurt whoever is hiding in the bushes. Travis and Chris come out of hiding. The men — Brandon, Derek and "Baby" James — invite Travis and Chris to eat with them.

Travis informs Brandon’s group that San Diego, their hometown, is destroyed, bombed by the Air Force like LA. Brandon offers Travis and Chris a ride to the U.S. Travis declines but accepts a ride to the next town.

Chris tells Travis they should join Brandon’s group but Travis worries the men are too dangerous to be trusted. “Maybe that’s what it takes,” replies Chris.

Travis and Chris ride with Brandon’s group. Chris sits in the cab with Derek and Baby James, laughing at their cocky banter. He spots a farm in the distance. Brandon’s group drives to the farm to look for food and supplies, it looks to be picked clean and abandoned. Travis pulls Chris aside and suggests they stay at the farm when Brandon’s group moves on. Chris refuses, saying they need to stay with people. He follows Brandon to check out the barn. Brandon’s group finds chickens inside the barn. Overjoyed, they begin chasing down the chickens, hoping for an easy meal. Meanwhile, Travis finds the graves of two children and an older woman outside the house, he runs to the barn when he hears the boys shouting.

Travis runs to the barn and warns the group that whoever buried the people in the graves is still at the farm. He's proved right when a man of about 50 comes in with a rifle, shouting at them in Spanish. Travis insists they leave and let the man keep his farm. The situation stays tense and, with guns drawn on him, the farm owner shoots James in the leg after he snaps a chicken’s neck. Chris shoots the man, fatally wounding him.

Travis stares at Chris as the farm owner dies. Chris holds out his hand to Travis but he turns away.

Travis is briefly seen watching the neon sign of the Rosarito Beach Hotel before the sign is turned back off by Madison Clark. Travis then appears to walk in the hotel's direction, likely to investigate.

Travis fights through a crowd of refugees at the hotel that are being turned away by Madison, Alicia and Elena Reyes. When asked by Alicia about where Chris is, he refuses to give an answer. Shortly after the farm owner's death, Travis helps to tend to James' leg after he is shot and later that night, James lies to Travis about how intense the pain is and about how he had to shoot a former member of their group making Travis realize that James is lying about his pain out of fear of Brandon. Travis grabs a gun from Chris and barricades himself with James inside of the barn, refusing to let the others near him. However, they use Chris to infiltrate the barn the next morning and hold Travis down while Brandon shoots James in the head as he is begging for mercy. Travis then begs Chris not to leave him to no avail as Brandon, Derek and Chris set out for San Diego. Travis admits to Madison that he feels like he failed Liza by abandoning Chris and remains troubled over it as he takes a shower. Later that night, however, Brandon and Derek are seen (without Chris) outside of the hotel's front gate.

Madison - His fiancé. Their relationship is being stress tested by current events. Some cracks are showing but it's not certain yet which way things will go between them.

Victor Strand - the owner of the boat Travis travels on in Season 2. Travis stands up to Strand but only when he absolutely has to.

Chris - His teenage son with his ex-wife Liza. Again, recent events, esp Liza's recent death, are testing this relationship.

Liza - His ex-wife. They appeared to have remained on friendly terms after their divorce. There is a level of concern for each other, as Liza, after being bitten, in concerned as to how putting her down would affect Travis emotionally, so she asks Madison.

Alicia - His fiancé's teenage daughter. Alicia and Travis appear to have a good relationship. Alicia even refers to Travis as her step father.

Nick - His fiancé's teenage son. Nick's relationship with Travis does not appear to be as good as his sisters is. However, Nick trusts Travis enough to confess to him what he saw in the Abandoned church, and believes that Travis wouldn't see him as crazy.

Lt. Moyers - of The National Guard. Officer In Charge of Safe Zone India. He views Travis as the unofficial 'Mayor' of the safe zone. However, he stills views Travis as he views anyone else- a strain on military resources.

Daniel Salazar - Travis and Daniel have been challenging each other since they met. These challenges have yet to boil over into something that will settle the issues between the two men - mostly due to Daniel's self control. Daniel sees Travis as weak, while Travis is wary of Daniel due in part to the fact Daniel so freely tortured someone.

Ofelia Salazar - Travis and Ofelia have had very little interaction with each other. However, what little interaction their has been seems to be positive.

Griselda Salazar - It was Griselda who told Daniel to let The Manawas into their shop (Salazar's Cuts) during the riots that accompanied the fall of L.A. and it was Travis who carried Griselda to his pickup truck when she was injured escaping from those riots herself. Griselda doesn't speak much English and Travis has no Spanish at all, so they don't speak much.

This character was originally called "Sean" and was not seen as Maori until Cliff Curtis was cast. It seems to have happened a few times, that the actor being cast had an affect on the story or the character. Liza Ortiz was not originally a Latino character and Ofelia Salazar was going to be a "confident professional", according to Robert Kirkman.

As of the episode "Wrath", Travis is the last surviving member of the Manawa family.